A Family Affair(42)

“Everyone knows, people have intensely dramatic and secret private lives,” Amy said. “I didn’t really get to know my father but I thought he was charming and kind.”

“He was exactly that!” Anna said. “He must have been so happy to know you, finally.”

“I think so, in a way, though he did say he wasn’t quite ready to be a grandfather. I think maybe he struggled with that idea. He didn’t say so but I think he wondered how that worked with a child you’d never communicated with. Does he get invited to the baptism? To Christmas dinner?”

“Do you tell the family?” Anna added.

“That’s why I wanted to see you,” Amy said. “I’ll tell you whatever I can about my relationship with him. There isn’t much to tell, but I’m willing. But the real reason I wanted to talk to you is, it seems there has been some money left to me.”

“Ah,” Anna said. “You’re the anonymous recipient. I thought so.”

“You did?”

“Since meeting you,” Anna said. “It all began to make sense.”

“How is that so?”

“My late husband bequeathed ten percent each to our three children and another ten percent to an unknown recipient. I didn’t know about you until we met. You, however, knew about me and my late husband. It fell into place very quickly.”

“Do your children know?”

“Not yet.”

“Do you plan to tell them?”

“I know I should,” Anna said. “What do you think?”

“I think if they know about me and want to meet me, it’s their right. But they have to want that. I won’t make the decision for them. I have a personal ethic—the truth is always better. In fact, in the end, easier.”

“In my case, it’s an occupational hazard. I’m dedicated to the truth.”

“Of course you are,” Amy said, smiling. “Your honor.”

“Your last meeting with Chad? What was that like?”

“It was a courtesy call. I invited him to lunch. I introduced him to Nikit. I told him I was expecting. His first grandchild, he said. He got a bit gloomy about it actually. He asked me if I felt he had failed me.” She looked down into her coffee and was quiet for a moment. When she looked up again, her eyes glistened with tears. “I told him that I wished a relationship between us could have been handled differently, though I didn’t know how that might have worked. I told him yes, there were times I needed a father. And he asked me to forgive him.”

That was truly the first time Anna felt sorry for Chad. A child, as beautiful and smart as Amy, must have been hard to keep secret. Anna didn’t ask Amy if she forgave him.

“I also told him I was glad to know him now,” Amy said.

“I will tell my children about you and your baby,” Anna said. “I may take a little time to think it through, trying to come up with a logical and meaningful way of doing so.”

“You can tell them also that I haven’t spent any of the money he left me. I understand they might feel cheated somehow.”

Anna was actually surprised by feeling absolutely no envy of that money. In fact, oddly, she was relieved to know that in the end Chad had done something decent. Admittedly, her life would have been quite different had she known about Amy sooner. “It must have been what Chad wanted or he wouldn’t have done it. And though it won’t be soon, you will have more college tuitions to finance—best to tuck it away. Thank you for being honest.”

Amy nodded and looked around Christos. “This place is fantastic. Maybe we’ll meet here again sometime.”

“Whenever we can,” Anna said. “We’re going to stay in touch.”

Anna’s court roster was heavy with cases and Phoebe, her best friend and clerk of court, complained bitterly. And that’s how her Monday began.

“I’m not trying to rush you or crowd you, I don’t want you to take on more than you can handle emotionally, but let’s make getting these cases on the calendar a priority. I’ll get you the help you need. But we have to mop up!”

“Absolutely,” Anna agreed. When Anna took note of the number of files that made their way to her desk, she knew it was going to be a brutal week, complete with plenty of homework. One of the holdovers from the days of the pandemic was the frequent use of video conferencing for meetings, which cut down on the time factor and helped them get work done in a more efficient manner.

It was September; children were back in school and thankfully attending in person and not remotely as had been the case last year. They were booking cases to be heard all the way into November. In addition Anna was signing off on multiple divorces where there was no contest, child custody issues with CPS, search and seizure warrants and other miscellaneous cases. She was able to push many to Family Court. Lunch every day was brought in and eaten with staff members while working. Her secretary, Irene, was riding the law clerks hard. Anna’s had always been a busy courtroom. Her briefcase was full when she left the courthouse every evening, and on Saturday there was no rest for the wicked and Anna was back at her desk. Phoebe and a couple of the clerks were also there giving up their weekend to help catch up.

Grueling workweeks were not unusual for Anna, but in the past she might’ve called Chad and asked him to stop at the grocery store or grab some takeout—a pizza or Chinese. The only work he did on weekends was routinely done at home and he used his days off to golf or get together with friends. She’d been finding over the last six months that these little things—not having someone to grab dinner or run an errand—added up over time.